Salt Lake firefighters make ‘good progress’ on recycling yard fire
Apr 11, 2025, 9:04 AM | Updated: 4:04 pm
Salt Lake fire crews responded to a large fire that turned out to be a pile of recycled cars that went up in flames early Friday, April 11, 2025. (Salt Lake City Fire Department)
(Salt Lake City Fire Department)
SALT LAKE CITY — Firefighters have made significant progress knocking down a fire at a scrap metal recycling facility in Salt Lake City.
The two-alarm fire, which was reported Friday at approximately 5:15 a.m. at Metro Group Inc’s facility at 3150 W. 900 South, sent flames and a large plume of smoke into the air.
Initially, Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Brandt Hancuff said it would likely take days to fully extinguish the fire that was burning on a “pyramid stack of compressed vehicles set for recycling.”
However, as of Friday afternoon, crews had made major progress and expected to leave the scene later that evening.
“That’s good news,” Hancuff told KSL NewsRadio, “because we anticipated being there into tomorrow easily.”
Specifically, Hancuff said, wind conditions – which initially hampered firefighting efforts – became much more favorable. Additionally, equipment and workers from Metro Group Inc. helped crews to spread out the burning vehicles across the property, Hancuff added.
“The stars aligned on this one, and we’ve been able to make good progress,” he said.
The flames at first threatened a nearby building on the west side of the lot, Hancuff said, and crews worked to keep the fire away from it. Firefighters also kept flames away from propane, diesel, and liquid nitrogen tanks that were on the property.
Hancuff said it could still take until Saturday to fully put out the fire, but he said Salt Lake firefighters would likely leave the scene late Friday and turn things over to the property owner to extinguish any remaining hotspots.
The amount of smoke from the fire has also improved tremendously, Hancuff said. Earlier Friday, KSL TV spoke with state officials about the potential for air quality concerns.
“There is concern especially if it’s burning vehicles or other things,” said Shauna Ward with the Utah Division of Air Quality. “There can be other chemicals that aren’t just your typical particulate in there that we can be concerned about.”
However, Ward added, the smoke was likely to impact only certain areas rather than blanketing the entire valley with smoke. Still, Ward urged people to stay away from the smoke and to try to avoid being downwind of it if possible.
Hancuff estimated the pile of cars initially on fire was about an acre wide and roughly 100 feet tall. The cause of the fire was still being investigated.
